Mar 20, 2006

(Fareham, England) A collection of garden gnomes, in danger of being seized by local tax collectors for an unpaid debt, has been sent into hiding.

Gwynneth Lester, a disabled widow in this English town, refused to pay the tax in question because she said she receives none of the local services for which the tax is levied.

"Well, they won't be taking the garden gnomes now because I have given them away," she told Reuters Monday. "In fact they won't be getting anything that I have collected over the years because I have given it all away to keep it from them."

There is no word on whether or not Lester's hoe, garden gloves, or bird bath are safe.